Yoga with Mom

by Cheng-Ling Chen — December 20, 2007

During my mother's recent visit, we practice yoga together. I put on meditative music and take us through a sequence of basic poses. My mother knows all about yoga, but she humors me and lets me play teacher. She follows my prompts and lets me adjust her alignment.

We warm up with a few Seals. While my mother rests in Child's Pose, I help deepen her stretch by standing behind her and pushing down on her sits bones with my palms. She sighs. When my yoga teacher helps me with this stretch, I always feel good in an achy sort of way.

Synchronizing breath and movement, we practice several Sun Salutations, which get us sweating in no time. I notice how long and straight my mother's spine is when she comes up to standing and how supple it is when she is in standing forward bend. We work through Warriors 1 and 2, Triangle Pose, and Tree Pose. With the endorphins coursing through our systems, we are warm and also a bit giggly. When one of us loses her balance in Horse (me), we are laughing our manes off despite the burning sensation in our thighs.

To slow down, we lower to the floor for Squats, Bridges, Twists, and Happy Baby. I am impressed with how limber and agile my mother is. She moves gracefully in and out of poses. When she rests for final Savasana, I massage her temples. Cradling her head in my hands, I tug it gently, giving her an extra neck stretch. I tell her how glad I am that she is in such good shape. I tell her that when I am her age, I hope to move as she does. She smiles and says,

"You will, just keep practicing yoga."